Still Life: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel) (Unabridged)
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
A Good Morning America Book Club Pick
A Veranda Magazine Book Club Pick
A captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man.
Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades.
As Ulysses returns home to London, reimmersing himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parot—a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics—he carries his time in Italy with him. And when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt fate, and returns to the Tuscan hills.
With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a deeply drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This sweeping historical novel is a story of history, art, and humanity at its best. The time-hopping tale opens in 1944, when 24-year-old English soldier Ulysses Temper is stationed in Tuscany. There, he crosses paths with another Brit, sixtysomething art historian Evelyn Skinner, and their friendship alters Ulysses’ perspectives on art and life forever. Years later, when Ulysses moves back to Italy with his quirky, nontraditional family, his appreciation for the lessons he’s learned grows even deeper. Author Sarah Winman mixes poetic prose, vivid storytelling, and a dash of magical realism into a wonderfully rich tale that touches on themes of creativity and LGBTQ+ life. Her narration lends a gentle, eminently British precision to the telling, making the audiobook like a Merchant Ivory movie for your ears. Don’t be surprised if you come away feeling decidedly optimistic about the power of human relationships.
Customer Reviews
Still Life
This book. Wonderful. I promise you will feel joyfully alive in listening to it. The vivid world will swirl around you and through you.
Still Life is euphoric.